[Homestead] Food Safety

bob ford bobford79 at yahoo.com
Sat Dec 6 09:09:17 EST 2008


Lynn, is there now a way around the law in PA?  What I mean is could you call yourself a "co-op" and let anyone instantly join the "co-op" if they wanted to buy cheese or raw milk, etc?   I guess not,  or you would be doing so,......... 'just thinking out loud....

-----------------------------------------------------------------


--- On Sat, 12/6/08, Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> From: Lynn Wigglesworth <lynnw1366 at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Food Safety
> To: homestead at lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Saturday, December 6, 2008, 7:04 AM
> Between this and the Ohio story, small farmers will
> eventually give up. They 
> will get jobs in town and raise and eat their own healthy
> organic food, and 
> let everyone else eat factory food. The rest of the country
> will lose. It 
> should be going the opposite way, but isn't.
> 
> Lynn Wigglesworth
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "bob ford" <bobford79 at yahoo.com>
> To: <homestead at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2008 8:59 AM
> Subject: [Homestead] Food Safety
> 
> 
> > this article is in this am NYT.  Read the second
> paragraph carefully.  The 
> > beauracrats at the FDA are getting ready for much more
> power during the 
> > upcoming administration and congress.  They desire to
> stop food problems 
> > "at the souce" including
> "domestic" sources.  Now, you really think they 
> > will be going after big ag, or will it be the small
> farmer who becomes 
> > regualted to the point of t errorism
> >
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Editorial
> >
> > Grading Progress on Food Safety
> >
> >
> > Published: December 6, 2008
> >
> > The Food and Drug Administration is claiming
> considerable progress over 
> > the past year in protecting the nation’s food supply
> from pathogens and 
> > toxic substances. But the steps described in its
> self-assessment warrant 
> > only a so-so grade.
> >
> > The agency released a report this week describing what
> officials call a 
> > “hugely ambitious” campaign to redesign the whole
> approach to food 
> > inspection. The goal is to root out tainted food —
> whether produced abroad 
> > or in this country — at the earliest stages of the
> production and 
> > distribution process while being ready to respond
> quickly if pathogens 
> > start reaching consumers.
> >
> > The philosophy is sound. Imported foods are the focus
> of greatest concern. 
> > And it makes good sense to detect and eliminate
> contamination at a 
> > manufacturing or distribution plant abroad rather than
> trying to intercept 
> > tainted products at our borders. It is encouraging
> that the agency has 
> > already hired staff for new offices in China and India
> that will try to 
> > ensure the safety of food products before they are
> exported. It also has 
> > plans to open offices in Europe, Latin America and the
> Middle East as 
> > well.
> >
> > The agency also deserves credit for approving the use
> of irradiation to 
> > kill bacteria on spinach and iceberg lettuce; for
> developing methods to 
> > detect even trace levels of melamine, a contaminant
> that has sickened a 
> > horrifying number of infants in China; for inspecting
> some 5,900 “high 
> > risk” domestic food establishments; and for starting
> to hire more than 100 
> > new employees to conduct inspections and collect
> samples.
> >
> > None of this is enough to ease concerns over the
> safety of the food 
> > supply. The F.D.A. regulates some 65,000 food firms in
> this country. 
> > Inspecting 5,900 of them is only a modest beginning.
> While it is useful to 
> > have offices abroad, it is not yet clear how
> effectively they will be 
> > given some countries’ resistance to admit problems.
> >
> > By most accounts, the F.D.A. is still vastly
> underfinanced to carry out 
> > its widening responsibilities. The Obama
> administration and the next 
> > Congress will need to determine how much more money
> can be provided and 
> > what additional legislative authority is needed to
> trace contaminants 
> > through the food supply and recall tainted products.
> >
> > They should also re-examine whether the Bush
> administration’s heavy 
> > reliance on the private sector to ensure safety needs
> to be rebalanced 
> > with more effective and vigilant regulation.
> >
> >
> >
> > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/opinion/06sat2.html
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Homestead list and subscription:
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead
> > Change your homestead list member options:
> >
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/lynnw1366%40hotmail.com
> > View the archives at:
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/homestead
> >
> >
> > 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Homestead list and subscription:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead
> Change your homestead list member options:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/bobford79%40yahoo.com
> View the archives at:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/homestead


      



More information about the Homestead mailing list